SOS! Suddenly have a high-end turntable, need to upgrade Amp + Speakers

[rainizzm]

Hey everyone!
Ran into some luck recently and was able to score the following for MUCH lower than it would have gone for usually:

• Turntable: Luxman PD-151 Mark II
• Cartridge: Hana ML (MC-LO) Cartridge
• Phono Pre-Amp: Cambridge Alva Duo

I need help figuring out which Passive Bookshelf Speakers and Amplifier would work best with the rest of my system! My budget is maximum $1000-$1500 give or take. What Amplifier + Speaker combo works best with my system without undermining the rest of the components?
The room the setup is in is a rectangular sitting area however it's open to the rest of the house. I wish I could go to a dealer and do listening tests but unfortunately, we don't have any in my country.
P.S: I saw the reviews on the Topping Amps here and they seemed extraordinary at first only to check reddit and find that people are kind of conflicted by those amps. If you've owned them long-term, how did you feel about them?

 

[Snoopy]

Wharfdale linton on sale and a Yamaha AS501

 

[Svend P]

Why do you need to upgrade the rest? Maybe sell the Luxman and use the money on active speakers?

Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

I'm a member of a couple of reddit audiophile threads where people post pictures of their rigs and most of the time they include turntables and every time I see one my mind is blown because I outgrew vinyl only a few years after buying my first CD player in the '80's. Back then I had a tape...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[rainizzm]

Why do you need to upgrade the rest? Maybe sell the Luxman and use the money on active speakers?

Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

I'm a member of a couple of reddit audiophile threads where people post pictures of their rigs and most of the time they include turntables and every time I see one my mind is blown because I outgrew vinyl only a few years after buying my first CD player in the '80's. Back then I had a tape...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I know it seems like the logical answer buuuut I was able to get the Luxman for $350 and it's pretty much in mint condition, so I'm looking to keep it considering everything else is upgradeable in the future and the Luxman is a really great turntable

 

[Killingbeans]

What amp and speakers do you have now? Do you really need to upgrade?

 

[rainizzm]

What amp and speakers do you have now? Do you really need to upgrade?

Amp went bust last month, just a very bad soundbar because I've been saving up for the past 8 years

 

[EERecordist]

Welcome to ASR! Nice vinyl setup!

Have you looked around much on https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Reviews/?

There you can select speakers, then sort by, say, price, go up in price from lowest to highest until you start seeing recommended and read the reviews. From there you can narrow it down on size. You don't want little desktop speakers to fill a room. You may be able to fit a sub in your budget.

You can do the same for amps. Sort by SINAD, then find a price that you like.

If you want to listen to streaming, other sources, or feed TV audio to your new speakers, select an amp-DAC combination, or separates, with those inputs that looks like the controls make sense to you.

The last step is to look at the sensitivity of your speakers. The more DB per 1 Watt, the less Watts the amp needs. Practically it is usually not a limitation.

Or you may find powered speakers in the list.

You might need to budget speaker stands to get bookshelf speakers at ear level. And you can probably include some high rated earbuds too.

For extra credit, you can keep an eye on our deals threads - North America: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...udio-product-sales.3118/page-242#post-2015256 and Europe: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...er-deals-thread-on-audio-product-sales.23706/

Ideally purchase electronics from a source that allows returns up to a month to weed out hardware infant mortality failures.

Another speaker tester respected by ASR is Erin's Audio Corner. He just dropped this (I would include some JBL from the ASR list too):

 

[Killingbeans]

Alright, I wouldn't worry too much about "undermining" the turntable.

It will not require much to reach the point where even a really good turntable becomes the bottleneck of the system.

Get youself a no-nonsense reliable amp, and a pair of speakers that follow modern consensus on high performance, and then just enjoy the turntable for what it is.

 

[rank]

Uh uh uh...
It costs $5695 (+ $795 for cover)...

 

[mglobe]

Ascend Sierra 1 V2 and a $500 power amp?

 

[staticV3]

@rainizzm
Which country are you in?
What's the listening distance?
Are you looking for an Amp with remote-controlled volume, or is a volume knob ok?

 

[DVDdoug]

Uh uh uh...
It costs $5695 (+ $795 for cover)...

So, you could sell it and upgrade your speaker budget.

If you WANT to play records, especially if you already have records, $350 is reasonable for a turntable and you should keep it. You don't want to go too-cheap but you can spend 10 or 20 times as much with little or no improvement in sound... You are still playing inferior analog records. Any CD/DVD player, or your phone, is better than vinyl. (Some people like the sound of records but technically digital is better.) You can ALWAYS hear background noise on records, especially during fade-outs and between tracks, and especially with the volume turned-up, or with headphones. And there are other potential issues with distortion and frequency response.

The most important thing for sound quality is speakers. (Or with headphones, there is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and you can get top-notch headphones for less than $200. Or you can spend more for worse sound.)

If you like bass, you may want a subwoofer. Or you might want to add one later. Size isn't everything but it's hard to get good strong-deep bass with "small" bookshelf speakers (or with a soundbar). But it can be tricky to integrate a subwoofer if you don't have an AVR.

Don't worry too much about the amplifier. Most amplifiers do a good job of amplifying with low noise, low distortion, and flat frequency response. Choose an amplifier with enough power (wattage) for your speakers, but not too much that you can burn-out the speakers. If you like to listen loud get an amplifier that (approximately) matches the maximum power rating of your speakers.

And you may want certain features or certain inputs. Often, practically and economically, the best "amplifier" is a receiver or audio video receiver. I paid about $300 for my 5.1 channel AVR. It's got multiple analog and digital inputs and it can decode all of the DVD/Blu-Ray formats. It's got a remote control, etc. And 100W X 5 channels, plus a low-level subwoofer output for an active sub.

Audiophoolery might help you best allocate your funds.

 

[rainizzm]

Uh uh uh...
It costs $5695 (+ $795 for cover)...

exactly, which is why I really don't want to part ways with it! It's not everyday that you get an endgame turntable in almost new condition for way less than usual </3

 

[rainizzm]

@rainizzm
Which country are you in?
What's the listening distance?
Are you looking for an Amp with remote-controlled volume, or is a volume knob ok?

1. Qatar
2. 3-5 meters
3. Volume knob is okay! Can always upgrade down the line if the bug bites and dictates I need a remote for whatever reason...

 

[rainizzm]

So, you could sell it and upgrade your speaker budget.

If you WANT to play records, especially if you already have records, $350 is reasonable for a turntable and you should keep it. You don't want to go too-cheap but you can spend 10 or 20 times as much with little or no improvement in sound... You are still playing inferior analog records. Any CD/DVD player, or your phone, is better than vinyl. (Some people like the sound of records but technically digital is better.) You can ALWAYS hear background noise on records, especially during fade-outs and between tracks, and especially with the volume turned-up, or with headphones. And there are other potential issues with distortion and frequency response.

The most important thing for sound quality is speakers. (Or with headphones, there is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and you can get top-notch headphones for less than $200. Or you can spend more for worse sound.)

If you like bass, you may want a subwoofer. Or you might want to add one later. Size isn't everything but it's hard to get good strong-deep bass with "small" bookshelf speakers (or with a soundbar). But it can be tricky to integrate a subwoofer if you don't have an AVR.

Don't worry too much about the amplifier. Most amplifiers do a good job of amplifying with low noise, low distortion, and flat frequency response. Choose an amplifier with enough power (wattage) for your speakers, but not too much that you can burn-out the speakers. If you like to listen loud get an amplifier that (approximately) matches the maximum power rating of your speakers.

And you may want certain features or certain inputs. Often, practically and economically, the best "amplifier" is a receiver or audio video receiver. I paid about $300 for my 5.1 channel AVR. It's got multiple analog and digital inputs and it can decode all of the DVD/Blu-Ray formats. It's got a remote control, etc. And 100W X 5 channels, plus a low-level subwoofer output for an active sub.

Audiophoolery might help you best allocate your funds.

It's the tangibility of the medium I suppose that keeps me in collecting CDs and LPs, so I am aware of the downfall of analog mediums but I still go back to them regardless in both audio and photography.

Good points on the subwoofer! I'm planning on eventually integrating it into my system, perhaps in winter or early next year. What matters most to me as of now is having something just enough to keep me going for a while before the vinyl bug bites back. I'm planning to upgrade maybe once in the next two years and to get final upgrades on the rest of the system in 4-5 years once I move out to my new place. By then I would have a dedicated listening room and would be able to match the system together.

Thank you for your answer! Please let me know if you have any other suggestions.

 

[staticV3]

1. Qatar
2. 3-5 meters
3. Volume knob is okay! Can always upgrade down the line if the bug bites and dictates I need a remote for whatever reason...

At 3-5m, I would strongly suggest floorstanders.

If bookshelf speakers are a must, then the Wharfedale Linton would be a good place to start.

 

[GXAlan]

Turntable: Luxman PD-151 Mark II

Nice! I have gotten some great deals occasionally, but yours is one of the very best!

My budget is maximum $1000-$1500 give or take. What Amplifier + Speaker combo works best with my system without undermining the rest of the components?

Revel F36 with WiiM Amp

Get it from Crutchfield since they have resonable price and you can try it at home and return it if it doesn’t work.

Ignore the calls to sell the Luxman. There will always be the sighted bias and satisfaction of having a flagship turntable even if it’s decoration.

Edit: missed the part that you weren’t in the US. Not sure how much it costs in Qatar.

 

[Timcognito]

Don't forget the phono pre-amp. Or maybe an integrated amp with one onboard. With your budget maybe stay with used, you've had good luck so far.

 

[staticV3]

Don't forget the phono pre-amp. Or maybe an integrated with one onboard. With your budget may stay with used, you've had good luck so far.

was able to score the following for MUCH lower than it would have gone for usually:

• Turntable: Luxman PD-151 Mark II
• Cartridge: Hana ML (MC-LO) Cartridge
• Phono Pre-Amp: Cambridge Alva Duo

 

[Timcognito]

Thanks I missed that